Bitter Sweets
by PotterCriminallovers
Summary: AU: Jason's life couldn't get more complicated if he tried. His best friend Kory is in love with his older brother Dick. His younger brother Tim seems to be hiding something huge from the whole family. And his youngest brother Damian is eleven and going through a midlife crisis. What's a guy to do?
1. Chapter 1

"Fuck you, Dick!" Jason called, from across the ballroom in Wayne manor at his brother.

"Jason, language!" Bruce Wayne called, over his shoulder, as he finished signing for the bartender. The CEO of Wayne industries was once again throwing a mixer to find new investors for his company for whatever new product they were working on.

Jason rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his black and white hair, "Sorry dad," he forced a smile, "fuck you, Richard." Dick always had a habit of sticking his nose in places it didn't belong or anywhere Jason really didn't want it. Jason had asked a friend of Dick's, Zatanna, out for coffee when school starts and somehow word got back to Dick...

Dick couldn't help but laugh at his younger brother, "I don't think that's what he meant Jay, but thanks for trying." Richard Grayson went back to unstacking chairs and placing them around the round tables that flooded the largest room in the manor.

The clicking of heels against the floor made the boys stop their movements and look at their stepmother. She smiled brightly at them as she smoothed out her floor-length purple ballgown and wrapped her arm around her husband's waist, "what are we all squabbling about?" Selina Kyle-Wayne asked. She pouted her lips out slightly and fluttered her eyelashes, "is everything okay with the party Bruce?"

"Of course Selina," the billionaire smiled before leaning down to peck his wife's lips, "the boys were just fussing over Jason's crush on Zatanna."

"Shut up dad!" Jason threw his hand up in the air in frustration before slamming them back down to his side with clenched fists, "is it too much to ask for some goddamn privacy in this house?!"

"No you can't," Damian imputed as he walked into the room, carrying a stack of neatly folded table clothes, "the only one with secrets in this house is Cassandra and it's only because she doesn't talk."

Tim rolled his eyes and groaned in agreement as he walked in behind Damian, with a tray of wine glasses, "with nine of us living in this house it's almost impossible to find a room with no one else in it, let alone somewhere to talk where no one can hear you," he slipped the tray onto the bar and turned to look at his family, "is there anything else we need to bring in?"

Bruce looked around the room before shaking his head, "I think we have everything out, the setup team can just put it all together, and make this room look presentable." He turned to leave with his wife on his arm, but stopped at the large archway, "where are the girls?"

The four boys looked at each other before shrugging, "with Barbara getting ready?" Dick suggested.

"Or hiding from the manual labour?" Jason added, "I'm going to call Kory to make sure she remembers the party is tonight."

Dick's ears perked up at the sound of Kory's name, "remind her it's formal attire." the oldest brother had a thing for the exotic transfer student, but he had been extremely afraid to do anything about it for two reasons, one of which, was because she was his brother's best friend.

Jason looked knowingly at Dick as their siblings and parents left the room. Dick had a way with women. They fell hard and fast in love with him with only one conversation. That's exactly what happened with Kory. During one of Dick and Bab's famous 'breaks,' Richard and Kory slept together after Jason, Roy, and Kory crashed the junior prom. Kory saw fireworks and Dick saw himself staring down the end of Commissioner Gordon's police taser when he confessed to Barbra what happened. Dick regretted it the moment he drove up Gordon's driveway; he regretted going back to Barbra when he wanted Kory.

A few days after the ordeal, Dick confessed to his brother about his woes with the two most beautiful women at Gotham Academy.

It was a secret Jason would hold forever, Kory was in love with Dick and Dick loved her back. He only held on to it because he cared too much about Kory to see her hurt by Dick and his womanizing ways.

* * *

Stephanie and Cassandra flopped down onto the queen size bed in Barbara's 'vacation room' in Wayne Manor. Barbara, being the commissioner's daughter, was always left home by herself when her father would work long into the night. Because of this, his close relationship with Commissioner Gordon, and the fact that Dick wasn't allowed over when Jim wasn't home, Bruce turned one of the many guest bedrooms into a vacation room for Bab's when she didn't feel like being by herself in their little house.

"This is the fourth dress you've tried on! Just pick one so we can go down to the party!" Stephanie whined.

Cass sat up on the bed and nodded.

"This is huge though! Dick and I are officially seniors come tomorrow and I just want to make a good impression on all those scholars downstairs." Barbara beamed as she slipped on a yellow ballgown, the first one she had tried on over an hour ago.

"You just want to make a good impression on Grayson," Stephanie smirked, as she rose from the bed, and slipped her black heel's on under her silver dress, "you want a stable relationship for your senior year."

"It's always about Richard," Cass signed to Cass, making the blonde giggle, while the redhead rolled her eyes.

"We're already dating, why would I need to make a good impression?"

Stephanie pulled her hair back with a thick black headband, "because of Kory."

Cass noted that Barbra's shoulders tensed as she heard the Tamarainians name. It was the reaction the mute girl needed to confirm her thoughts.

* * *

"Woah," Jason whispered, as he watched Kory exit the limo parked outside of the manor's front doors.

Kory smiled brightly, as she processed up the stone stairs, "good evening Jason," she curtsied making the boy laugh.

"You don't have to do that Kor when you meet people inside you can just shake their hand or even smile if you don't want to hug them."

Kory Anders had moved to Gotham just over a year ago from the small island of Tamaran. They were having a very serious and distressful war against a neighbouring island that happens to be led by Kory's own sister Kom Anders. Kory's parents, the rulers of Tamaran sent her to Gotham to keep her safe and as far away from any media about the island. Although eighteen, Kory was placed in the tenth grade, in hopes of improving her English skills, and there, in remedial English, she met Jason Todd, cooped up in the corner in the back of class, pretending he didn't notice her when she began talking to him the best she could with broken English. They finally bonded, after failing the same test, and were forced to sit through detention with Mr. Nigma and constructed a plan to escape before he finished his Daily Riddler Puzzle. Since then they had been inseparable; even adding Roy Harper to their click after setting off a group of stink bombs in the detention classroom so he wouldn't have to attend after skipping too many classes.

Being the great friends that they were, Roy and Jason dedicated many hours to improving Kory's English in hope of helping her pass her classes so she could continue in their grade.

Kory twirled in her magenta dress that accented her fire orange hair perfectly, "it has been a very long time since I have been allowed to dress up in such a formal way. We had many parties back home but I was never old enough to attend them."

"They're not so special here," Jason shrugged, admiring the way the dress fit his friend, "and Bruce throws these things constantly since marrying Selina." Although to his face Jason always calls Bruce 'dad' but he often made a point of using his real name behind his adoptive father's back, "I think she enjoys the attention of being his arm candy."

"Will I be your arm candy tonight, Jason?"

Jason knew Kory was being completely innocent, but something about the question just sent his head into a frenzy, "N-no-o, NO!" he stated firmly, through his burning red cheeks, "you're here as my friend and nothing more."

They entered the ballroom flooded with hundreds of hopeful investors, the majority of which Jason could name from memory. He either went to school with their children or they came to a birthday party, christening, shower, or some other party the Wayne's hosted or were invited to. The rich are a small community in Gotham.

"Oh, thank god you guys are here!" Roy shoved his way through the crowd to meet up with his friends, "Oliver has been driving me crazy all night! He's all worked up because Dinah decided to stay home." Jason nodded, she was nine months along and was ready to pop at any minute.

Roy wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them into a group hug. He was wearing a red suit that stuck out like a sore thumb, "Oh, that's very exciting" Kory exclaimed removing Roy's hand from her waist, "your little brother will be here before you know it! Did Oliver and Dinah agree on a name?"

Roy shook his head moving away slightly to give Jason more room, "they want Conner, but I didn't like it. Oliver's been bitchier than usual and grounded me from my bike for two weeks, Dinah just walked away, then told us she wasn't coming." Roy had been Oliver's ward for well over ten years and the two had never really gotten along but they still stood by each other. Gotham had gone through the Angelina Jolie phase and all the elite had started adopting kids. Roy was just a pawn in Oliver's ideals to become noticed more in the community but disaster fell when Roy was never fully able to leave his street life behind and became addicted to heroin. Although, recovering now for almost two years, the disappointment and anger never seemed to pass in Oliver.

"Let us dance!" Kory instructed, practically ordered, after an awkward bought of silence, "this music is very upbeat."

* * *

Barbara grabbed Dick's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor, her head found itself a comfortable spot in the crook of his neck while his arms wrapped around her as they swayed to the music.

Impossible Year played over the crowd, "Damian must have overseen the music," Dick whispered to Barbra, "for a ten-year-old he has a weird love for Panic! At the Disco,"

"I don't mind," The redhead smiled, "I think it's kinda nice, to listen to something with lyrics and a real soul, not just a symphony bellowing at you all night." Dick nodded in agreement, "can you believe that this time next year we will be at Yale together? Living peacefully and away from all the crazy?"

Dick lifted his head slightly to reply to his girlfriend when he saw Kory making her way onto the floor with Jason and Roy not far behind. His chest tightened and his mouth got dry as he walked closer to him and Barbara... Barbara was the other reason he could never be with Kory. He loved Barbara, he really did, and they had been together since they were twelve. They had been on and off a few times, both dating others within that time, but they always found themselves together again. He didn't want to ruin it all with Barbara for a girl he didn't even know would last that long. "I can't wait," he managed to force out before looking back over to Kory who was doing sporadic movements to the music causing a bit of a scene.

* * *

The night grew on and Tim and Damian were getting bored. So bored, they were actually standing next to each other in calm silence. Damian was even debating pulling the fire alarm, just so everyone would leave, and he could go hide in his room. He was the only one at this party who was his age (John Kent wasn't allowed out for late night gatherings on a school night). Everyone was at least four years older than him and often talked down to him, which just made Damian mad. He was a very bright child, who could hold his own in any situation, physical or academic. Many people at his father's party just ignored him altogether because he had a 'bad attitude' when it came to his elders.

Damian turned to speak to his brother about ditching the event altogether when he noticed Tim stuck in a gaze that perhaps lead to a very close family friend, "when you're done staring at the 'love of your life' could you please enter back into this reality?"

Tim averted his eyes as his face paled before he let out a sigh, "I don't know what you're talking about Damian, Donna is just a friend."

"We talked about not having any secrets in this house about four hours ago to Grayson, Todd, and father. You know full well I know everything you all think about." Damian flashed a smug look, "and who said anything about Donna? I was talking about the one who's going to be your lab partner this year."

"Look you little twerp; mind your own business." Tim blushed a deep red.

"Save it for someone who will believe you." Damian rolled his eyes before grabbing a shrimp puff from a passing waiter, "when do you think father will let us leave?"

"For someone so smart you act like such a child," Tim commented, "you can't even sit through a Wayne Industries event without getting fidgety."

"Shut up Drake, you have no idea what you are talking about. I am much more mature than you or any of the other wards living in this house, I am the-"

"Blood son, we know Damian. You remind us at least four times a day." Dick rolled his eyes as he walked towards his youngest brothers with Barbara.

"I'm the blood son, I rule all." Jason mimicked, making Kory and Roy snicker from behind him.

"Funny how we all end up here," Stephanie commented, walking up to the growing crowd of Wayne's and friends, with Cassandra right beside her, "did you hear dad is making an important announcement."

"It's probably for the new toy he's building," Jason said.

The Wayne Wards (and Son) always found themselves huddled together, after so many hours at their father's event. It got tiring and quite boring making small talk with the same people, who asked the same questions and gave the same answers. It didn't take long for the children of the investors to find their way over to the group of loud kids trying their best to keep each other entertained and do so in a way that would not get them grounded for being disruptive.

"I was worried our little pow-wow wasn't happening." Donna laughed, as she moved herself to stand next to Tim. "I was getting very annoyed at Lex jr.'s passes at me."

"I'm sure he was getting very annoyed at you saying no all the time," Kon laughed, popping up on the other side of Tim. "So, what's this big announcement everyone has been murmuring about all night? My dad won't stop talking about it."

"We didn't even know there was supposed to be an announcement. I hadn't heard anything until Jim Gordon asked about it a few minutes ago." Dick said, wrapping his arm around Barbara's waist.

Just as Jason was about to comment, the music was cut, and everyone's attention was asked for at the stage. Bruce and Selina walked over with the microphone holding hands, "I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight. I take pleasure in knowing that all of you are still so interested in investing in Wayne industries even after more than thirty years." Bruce paused, for the applause, "tonight my wife and I are pleased–to share with you our exciting new." He pulled Selina closer, "We are pleased to let you know that we are expecting our own child in July of next year." The whole room erupted in cheers and applause. The whole room that is, except for the Wayne children.

All six and Barbara stood in silence as the room celebrated another addition to the family.

"What the fuck," Jason groaned, "we're running out of room in this goddamn house!"

"Why didn't they tell us before the party?" Tim asked, to no one in particular.

Stephanie was watching Cassandra sign out her disappointment, "I totally agree, Cass," she sighed, "why didn't Alfred tell us? He's usually the one to fill us in on things before Bruce actually gets around to it."

"Do you think maybe Alfred didn't know?" Dick pondered, "or maybe Bruce actually told him not to tell us."

The family, all turned to look at Damian, who hadn't said anything the whole time, "you okay little man?" Roy asked, waving his hand in front of the youngest Wayne's face.

Suddenly, Jason let out a roar of laughter, "he won't be the only blood son anymore!" Everyone else joined in, giggling. Damian suddenly took off full speed out of the ballroom and deep into the manor.

"Can't he just give us a break?" Dick groaned, before running after him, followed by Jason and Tim.

"No, then he wouldn't be the centre of attention," Jason replied.

* * *

A/N: Worlds biggest shoutout to The Mishmosh Bird for taking the time to edit my work and being totally patient with me as I jungle twenty billion things!


	2. Chapter 2

Jason slumped into school a week after the shocking family announcement. Damian was still not talking to Selina or Bruce and Cass and Stephanie had returned to their all-girl boarding school in Canada. The manor was surprisingly quiet and it was driving Jason nuts and his uniform was itchy. And Dick had left without him for school... again... the third time this week. As he walked towards his locker Jason found that the very asshole he was thinking about was leaning up against his locker talking to Kory pretending to act all cool.

"You should definitely try out for cheer-leading Kory, I think you would love it and the girls would love you." Dick smiled brightly at the Tamaranian.

Kory blushed and twirled her hair between her fingers, "There are just so many people at all of those football games... I am not used to being around so many people Dick," She confessed.

"And let's be honest Grayson, Kor would be lucky if Barbra let our friend anywhere near her precious Gotham Sirens'." Jason struts up to the pair with a smug look on his face. Grayson didn't deserve Kory. No one did.

Jason watched as his older brother's face paled, "I should get going," Dick mumbled, "don't want to be late for biology with Dr. Isley, she'll turn me into a toadstool."

Jason waved smugly as Kory smiled brightly, "Goodbye Dick."

"Bye Dick," Jason called cockily. The angry junior grabbed Kory's arm and swung her round to face the other way before pulling her down the hallway, "don't want to be late for English."

Kory pulled her arm away from Jason and stopped, "why will you not let me talk to your brother?" her arms crossed and Jason knew he was in trouble. He had only ever seen Kory look this way at him once before and it was right after the junior prom incident.

"We're going to be late for class and Bruce will kill me if I get detention so soon in the year." The boy with the white streak in his hair turned to walk away.

"Jason Todd, you will answer me right now!" her voice raised and the people around them began to whisper.

"You're not my mother Kor," he rolled his eyes. Big mistake.

Kory turned on her heels with a humph and walked down the hallway without looking back.

"Fuck!" Jason groaned throwing his hand up in defeat, "why does she have to make things so fucking difficult all the time."

"It's not even eleven o'clock and you've already managed to get sent home from school?" Dick asked as he picked up Damian's backpack from the front steps of the private school's elementary building.

"That child was insulting my art project. I had to teach him a lesson, Grayson."

"I honestly want to know what on earth was going through your head,"The eldest chuckled. "That poor kid is going to be traumatized for weeks."

They started walking past the Secondary building as they headed towards the front gates of the school

"Maybe you need to chill out a little?" Dick suggested, giving his brother a gentle nudge, "Make friends with people your own age and maybe you need to stop watching the soap opera channel when you get suspended." Damian just rolled his eyes and began to walk faster, "Maybe there is a girl you could talk to? Have a crush on anyone, little man?"

"Crushes are useless, love is a meaningless and trivial emotion used to manipulate and control a person's mind and lacklustre thoughts."

"Now hold on kid, love, sure, is trivial but it isn't meaningless. You were born out of a, yes, conflicting, but loving relationship. Bruce really did love Talia-"

Damian slowed, "and that's why she left... and left me here with all of you."

"We all love you too Damian, we all just show it in different ways."

"You're just spewing out this garbage in order to make yourself feel better about the fact that you think you love Barbra but you want to be with someone else."

Dick glowered at Damian, "look, what I do with my love life is none of your business and you don't get to project your mommy issues onto my relationship with Barbara and Kory. Besides, shouldn't you be more worried about not being the only blood son anymore?" Suddenly Dick fell to the ground holding his shin the pain swelled quickly, it was definitely going to leave a bruise. As Dick looked up he saw the youngest Wayne running towards the front gates.

Tim finally answered his phone after the fourth call from Jason. "What do you want?" he whispered, looking around hoping his teacher wouldn't notice. Kon sent him a strange look as he proceeded to conduct their advanced chemistry project. Tim wasn't making his 'calculated' face he made when one of his brothers called him for school help he looked almost worried.

"What do you mean Dick lost Damian?!" That caught Kon's attention.

"Yeah, I'll go check the spot. You check the bus station in case he goes to look for Talia." Tim snapped the phone shut before shoving it into his backpack.

"What's going on Tim?" Kon asked shutting their Bunsen burner off, "is Damian okay?"

Tim nodded before stacking his textbooks into his bag, "Dick went all macho big brother on Damian and he ended up running away. I'm heading over to our meeting spot to see if he's hiding out there."

"I'll come with you."

"You don't have to do that. Finish the project-"

"I want to." Kon interrupted as he grabbed his bag, "besides you two don't have the best track record when alone together. Someone has to keep the peace."

Jason slammed his fist into a locker as he read the text message on his phone. No sign of him at the manor. Why did Dick always have to be the hero? Why couldn't he let Damian act like a little shit and ignore it like the rest of them?

Jason's fingered did a little dance over the key's on his phone as he pondered whether or not to call. Sighing Todd dialled the number.

"What do you want Jason?" Kory snapped.

"Well, you're not completely mad at me. You answered the phone."

"I have two minutes to talk before I must go back to class so please tell me why you are calling."

"Damian ran away, we need your help to look at all of his possible hiding spots. Dick is at the manor, Tim is heading over to the meeting place, Barbra is at the Diner, and I'm heading to the bus station-"

"Where am I needed?"

"The Arcade."

"What should I do if I find him? He does not seem to be very fond of me Jason."

"Buy him some game tokens and food then call me and I'll make sure he gets home."

Dick ran his hand through his hair as he entered the kitchen. Expecting to find Alfred he actually ran into Selina having a snack with Dinah Queen. "Sorry to interrupt-" The oldest Wayne said grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl in order to act nonchalant.

"Why are you home so soon Richard?" Selina asked picking at the small grape in her hand.

Dick ran his hand through his hair again with a pained face, "just uh, just wasting time between classes."

"You live twenty minutes by car away from the school." Dinah crossed her arms, you could see bulging belly through her dress quite clearly.

"Aren't you supposed to be on bed rest?" Dick countered crossing his arms with a smirk. The last thing he needed was for Selina to know he lost Damian, she would tell Bruce for sure. What better way to distract her than to pick a fight with Dinah? She always had to win.

Dinah rolled her eyes before eating a slice of cheese, "I've got a couple more days 'til he's due. I figured why not take a trip out to Wayne Manor to meet a friend. Not that it's any of your business."

Dick raised his hands in defence, "don't mind me, then, ladies, enjoy your afternoon." he bid his farewell before slowly walking out of the room then sprinting through the corridor and up the staircase to Damian's room.

Jason ran up to the bulletproof glass window of the bus station. There were so many people and so much noise that he could barely think straight, "can I help you?" The Asian woman from behind the glass spoke into the speaker.

"H-have you seen a ten-year-old hanging out around here? Kinda short, big attitude, and pretends he's mightier than everyone. Maybe bought a ticket to Metropolis or Jump city? Maybe Bludhaven?"

The woman shook her head, "I'm sorry, no."

Jason groaned before breathing a sigh of relief. 'At least he's still in the city,' he thought. before grabbing his phone from his pocket.

[You need to break up huge blocks of text into paragraphs unless it's the style you typically write in (I've encountered some stories that make it work.) For the most part, though, sudden enormous blocks of text hinders comprehension and tires readers.]

Jason understood better than anyone what Damian was going through. He himself ran away once from his family; both of his families. His birth parents were monsters, taking out their anger and frustration on the defenceless little boy half the time, his dad was drunk off his ass and the other half he was beating on Jason. His mom wasn't much better, what she missed in abuse she made up for in neglect. Jason would bet his life savings, and being Bruce's ward it's a fair sum, that his mother never filed a missing person's report because she simply didn't notice that he was gone. Mentally traumatized, physically emaciated and just plain pitiful overall, Jason didn't miss his life before Bruce.

He ran away after his father beat his mother half to death one night and never looked back. He spent three years on the street until his birthday when Bruce found him stealing the last wheel off of the new Wayne Mercedes. The one Dick now drives. Bruce was very fond of Jason's spunk. Bruce had still taken Jason down to the police department but after Detective Gordon pulled out his case file and his father's case file Bruce had decided to take Jason home. Jason never really knew what happened after that. He never really knew what had become of his parents after left and he didn't really want to. All he knew was that Bruce came home one day with a pile of paperwork and a smile

For a while, things were fine in Jason's life, everything was great, actually, even with the addition of Cass, Steph and Tim, until the sudden announcement of Damian. Dick had told Jason about the mystery woman in Bruce's life over the years. The woman he never talked about or was seen around town with. Jason didn't know much about Bruce's love affair or that woman, Talia Al-something. All he knew was that suddenly, Bruce had a biological son and developed a massive case of favouritism. Jason was the more vocal of Bruce's wards, but he knew that even Dick was upset with being ignored.

Confused and heartbroken Bruce spend a long time with Damian, ignoring the rest of his children. Making them feel like nothing less than a group of worthless wards compared to his Biological child.

Kory tied her hair into a long ponytail before opening the double doors to the arcade. The lights from the machines were flashing but the only noise was coming from a shooting game. Kory walked towards gunshot sounds to find Damian holding a plastic rifle aimed at a screen.

"When you are done, may I play too?" Kory asked softly in hoped on not startling the boy.

Damian ignored the question and continued to play, his face tightening and his fingers moved faster pulling the trigger rapidly. Kory knew the young boy was probably waiting to get a reaction out of her, waiting for her to repeat herself or scold him for ignoring his request. Instead, she stood by quietly waiting for him to finish.

After ten minutes of silence, Damian finally stepped away from the game, "I'm hungry. He looked up her with his signature glare.

"Would you like some food?" Kory asked hesitantly.

"That's why I asked." He muttered before walking over to the snack bar.

After ordering the two sat together in silence eating their pizza. Kory was really good at playing Damian's game; she had barely spoken to him let alone scolded him for his actions. She could see the young boy waiting for some type of reaction from her, "why did you come for me?" he finally asked.

"Jason asked me to," Kory replied before taking a sip of her soda.

Damian smirked, "do you do everything Todd asks you to?"

"No," the Tamaranian asked without missing a beat, "he felt that I would be able to talk you into going back home."

The black haired boy rolled his eyes, "why you? I barely know you."

Kory nodded, "this is true. But I do know what you are feeling; you're afraid of losing your father to the new baby. You're worried Jason, Dick, Tim, and the girls won't treat you the same after Bruce and Selina have a child of their own... and I also think you are starting to experience the repercussions of your mother leaving..." She saw Damian start to tense, "I moved to Gotham after my sister waged a war against me and my country using a once peaceful neighbouring island."

This caught the boys attention, "she was going to be the sole heir to everything on Tamaran. But the elders had different ideas. They predicted an unsuspected birth of a true ruler and that was me, as my sister was a lot older than me and had already gone through all of the royal training, she was sure the elders were wrong. But she was devastated when my parents announced me as their successor. So angry that she married a prince, became a queen, then murdered her husband in order to be the sole ruler and attacked Tamaran. This resulted in my parents sending me here to Gotham as protection [passive voice. Someone speaking about this would be more passionate. Ie, 'My parents sent me away from my home to Gotham so that I can be safe from my sister']. I have no media into their world and they have no media into ours. [what do you mean by 'media'? Perhaps you meant 'contact'. Or if you're answering for why Gotham never heard any of this, it would be less forced for Damian to ask a question and for Kory to answer that Tamaran is isolated or something.]"

Damian slowly chewed his bite, "she hated you that much?"

Kory nodded; she knew she was getting through to him, "she is afraid. At least it is what I like to think. She is just a scared girl who spent her life training for something she will never reach. A part of me wishes to reach out my sister so we can find a solution to this problem. I do not blame her fully for her actions. I blame the cards life has dealt her. I almost even feel bad for her."

"What happens if you go back?"

"I could die. It is a like being between, as you say, a rock and a hard place. I go home only when my sister is incarcerated or dead... or I will most likely die."

Damian sighed, "It sounds like a hard predicament to be in."

Kory nodded, "your actions these last few days do not make you look stupid Damian. It makes you quite human to be scared and angry. You acted like any ten-year-old should when they are afraid of change. I knew you would probably be hiding here or the Diner but Jason insisted on checking everywhere."

"How long until they get here?"

"About five minutes."

* * *

Kon and Tim arrived at the Gotham docks seconds before the 'found him' text was sent out. "Well, this trip was useless." Tim rolled his eyes as he pocketed his phone. "Sorry, you came all the way out here."

Kon smiled slightly walking out to one of the empty boarding docks looking over the lake, "I don't mind, it's always really nice out here."

After Damian arrived at the Wayne Manor Bruce had decided to have a meeting place in case anything happened to one of the kids. After all, Gotham was the crime capital of the world and trouble seemed to follow these children everywhere.

They have only ever used the docks twice, once when Jason got into a street fight with some drug dealers while Roy was relapsing. And the second was actually for Tim after his birth father died. Kon was the one who found him after thirteen hours of searching. It was then when Bruce arrived that it was decided to have that dock be the meeting place.

Tim walked down to join Kon at the end of the dock, "when was the last time we were here?"

"We took my dad's party boat out," Kon smiled at the memory, "it's where I met Megan."

Tim felt a hole being punched through his heart, "Right," he forgot about that night. Spoiled rich kids hanging out in the middle of the lake with free food and beer and no adult supervision. It was definitely a crazy night.

"But I would've of rather spent that night with you," it was a barely audible whisper but Tim sure as hell heard it. If only it meant what he wanted it to mean. Megan Jones broke his heart and Kon regretted ever meeting her. And Tim tried his hardest to pick up the pieces and fix both of their broken hearts.

* * *

"Ow!" Damian whined as Jason clubbed him in the back of the head after he arrived at the Arcade.

Jason rolled his eyes as he sat in the plastic chair next to Kory, "that's what you get for being a dumb ass!" He folded his arms and lifted his feet to the table before dropping then when he noticed the Princess's stare, "we were worried about you," Jason huffed.

"I'm fine, Todd," Damian slid his last slice of Pizza over to his brother, "I just needed to get away from Grayson."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to offend you, Damian," Kory defended Dick.

Jason shot her a look before resting his arm around Damian, "he's a real ass hat. Don't worry 'bout it, you'll get used to it."

The three sat in comfortable silence for a while before deciding to skip the rest of the day and hang out at the Arcade.

* * *

 **AN:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favourited! And another amazingly huge thanks to The Mishmosh Bird for Betaing!


End file.
